Studio Lucy: Animals

Cat.

Giraffe and tree.

Very Hungry Caterpillar, copied from the book as a 1st birthday present for her cousin June.
She even made fruits with holes because the caterpillar ate through them!
(but for some reason she wrote her name backwards...on purpose)

Summer Weekend Warriors 6/9 - Heart Surgery and Dinosaurs

Saturday Lucy and I headed down to Rochester, MN to visit my grandma, who recently had heart surgery. My mom had been there all week and everyone else had headed home, so it was just us girls. Grandma had a rough morning but chatted with us a bit and enjoyed Lucy’s company in the afternoon. We were able to take Mom out for lunch and had some good time to catch up.

Lucy had fun marching in front of the big windows in the family waiting area.

Sunday we spontaneously decided to take a trip to the Minnesota Zoo. We hadn’t been in about a year, and weren’t making very good use of our membership! We went early in the morning to beat the heat, and spent a couple of hours enjoying the animals. It’s a little bit easier now because Lucy can walk around on her own more, although we still push a stroller for her to ride once in awhile. She had a good time and we even got her to wear a new hat.

How did this girl get to be so big?

This reminds me of how my Grandpa Lyle used to wear his farm hats!

The highlight was the new dinosaur exhibit, which features prehistoric animatronics. We were excited to see it, but as we approached quickly realized this may not have been the greatest idea. The dinosaurs were super cool, but kind of scary for little ones! As we entered Lucy got a glimpse of the T-Rex and started shaking and clinging to me. We got past it by looking the other way and then focusing on the “longneck” (brontosaurus) which was a little less scary. Thank goodness for the children’s dinosaur movie “Land Before Time.” By referring to Littlefoot and all of his friends, we were able to get through the exhibit. There didn’t seem to be any lasting effects of the “scary” experience, so that was good!

This was pretty much how we went through the exhibit.

You can see how a guy like this, moving and making noise, could be a tad scary!

She made friends by the end. This one sat still. :)

Summer Weekend Warriors 6/2 – Celebrations Galore

This weekend we traveled to Dubuque, IA for my cousin Kristi’s wedding. We got in late Friday night so we could enjoy a full day Saturday in one of Iowa’s fine river cities. In the morning we headed to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium with my brother Jason and his family, my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my grandma. The kids had a lot of fun.

The world is her aquarium?

That's one big 'ol stinky catfish.

Lucy and her cousin E (and Daddy).

Saturday afternoon we headed to nearby Pitosi, WI to a farm belonging to the Chad's (the groom's) family. It was a beautiful setting, a beautiful wedding, and a great time with family. The kids enjoyed all of the different farm animals and the adults enjoyed a few beverages on a nice summer evening. It was also a great way to celebrate my grandma’s 83rd birthday!

The bride and groom.

Yummy cupcakes!

Four generations!

So happy to share this day with my dear cousin and friend!

We headed back on Sunday, which was consequently Husband and I’s 6th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do anything special, too tired from the trip I guess. Hard to believe it’s been 6 years already!

A weekend of celebrations - not a bad way to kick off the summer!

Omaha

Lucy and I just spent an amazing (and exhausting) long weekend in Iowa and Nebraska. We went to my parents' house on Friday night, drove to Omaha on Saturday, drove back to my parent's house on Sunday, and home today. Lots of miles on the car; extra thanks for my hybrid today!

The main event was the wedding of my cousin Nick to the beautiful Katie...fun was had by all and it was great to spend time with family and friends. In addition to the wedding we took in the Omaha Zoo, visited my college roommate and her family, and got some extra time with grandma and grandpa (not to mention Lucy got to see all three of her uncles in the same weekend, even if not all at the same time). A few of my favorite photos from the weekend are posted below.

Lucy loves her Great Uncle Bob.

Two of my brothers, Josh and Jason.

Trouble (and extreme cuteness) x3.

"I want to dance with Evan. He's my best friend!"

A new friend at the Omaha Zoo.





 Dana's house has bunnies!

 

Presidents Day

Lucy had no daycare yesterday, since it was President's Day. It was not a holiday for me or Husband, but I took the day off to spend with our little one.

We started our day by sleeping in and snuggling, can't beat that! Around 9:00 or so we left the house and headed to Choo Choo Bob's Train Store in St. Paul. I had heard about this place but we hadn't been there yet. It is a store of course, but it also has a few model trains set up, as well as several train tables and a play area in the back. Lucy had fun playing with Thomas and his friends.

After that, we headed to Target to do a little shopping and then ate lunch in the cafe. We had to fuel up for our next stop, Como Zoo! This is one of our favorite spots.  Most of the outdoor animals were inside for the winter, but they have several buildings where you can view the animals inside or through a window - aquatic animals, monkeys, big cats, and Lucy's favorite - polar bears. They weren't very active when we were there, but the special treat was that a female and male lion were both inside and easy to see close-up.

Walking between the buildings was no big deal because it was 40 degrees and sunny on this February day! It also wore Lucy out, and she fell asleep on the way home and then continued with nice nap in her own bed, which gave me some time to do a couple of things around the house. Lucy was really, really good all day and we both had a lot of fun. I could handle starting each week like this!